Selanne Swimming with the Sharks

March 5, 2001

<Update - March 6, 2001 It was announced today that Teemu Selanne has undergone minor knee surgery and will be out of the Sharks lineup for as long as two weeks. While San Jose GM Dean Lombardi said this will not jeopardize the deal, he can't be ecstatic about not having the Finnish Flash in his team's lineup while they try and catch the Dallas Stars for the Pacific Division title. The injury will probably cost Selanne 4-6 regular season goals but ensures that he will be healthy for the playoffs.On a related note, the Ducks announced that Steve Shields could require shoulder surgery and be out for the remainder of the season.>

In a stunning deal, the San Jose Sharks have thrown down the gauntlet to all the teams in the Western Conference. The team has shown that they want to win now and are willing to sacrifice some of their top young talent to do it. 

The Sharks traded 24 year-old Jeff Friesen, last year's starting goalie Steve Shields, and a conditional draft choice to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for Finnish sniper Teemu Selanne. 

From a fantasy perspective this deal has two important aspects:

1) The change of scenery will rejuvenate Selanne. Don't be surprise to see him go on a tear. It wouldn't be out of the question to see him score 12-15 goals over the Sharks' remaining regular season games. 

2) Selanne becomes a pretty valuable pick in playoff pools. He's a Top 10 scorer during the regular season and with San Jose's renewed playoff commitment we would be surprised if they didn't go at least two rounds. As a result, Selanne would be up there with Lemieux and Jagr as top picks among teams not projected to be in the final four.